GECOM clarifies appointment of Operations Coordinator for LGE

In light of reports of GECOM Chair, Claudette Singh creating a temporary position to execute functions of the Deputy Chief Elections Officer, the Commission has since clarified that this is untrue and that it was only a secondment that will be reverted once the substantive post is filled.
GECOM issued a statement on Friday in response to a published article one day prior.
It outlined that back in November, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Vishnu Persaud, wrote a memo to GECOM Chair, Claudette Singh requesting approval for the secondment of IT Manager Aneal Giddings to the Operations Department of the Commission’s Secretariat. This was to assist with the day-to-day implementation and evaluation of the statutory and administrative tasks delineated in the workplan for the conduct of Local Government Elections (LGEs).
In justifying his request, the CEO noted that, unlike the conduct of General and Regional Elections, which takes place in a disaggregated manner in ten (10) different Electoral Districts, the LGEs will be conducted in 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs) comprising 10 Municipalities and 70 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).
The CEO further pointed out that considering the multiplicity of sequential and simultaneous tasks required to be implemented at the operations level for the LGEs and the position of Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) being vacant, it is of vital importance for a senior manager who is au-fait with operations management be assigned the responsibility of assisting him with ensuring that all of the required tasks are efficiently and effectively implemented in accordance with the timelines set out in the workplan for the LGEs.
In this regard, the Chairman approved the request with the understanding that Giddings would be referred to as ‘Operations Coordinator’ within the Operations Department of the Commission’s Secretariat since he would be responsible to carry out responsibilities that would normally fall within the list of duties of DCEO.
“The Chairman gave her approval for the secondment of Giddings with the full knowledge that she was not creating any new position; was not making an appointment, and was aware that there is the precedence of staff having been seconded, and in one case even appointed, without the knowledge and approval of the Commission. Further, the Chairman’s approval of the requested secondment was based on the understanding that this would be a temporary arrangement until a suitable candidate is appointed to the position of DCEO,” GECOM explained.
Meanwhile, Giddings is still employed in the substantive position of IT Manager.
With regard to the filling of the vacancy of DCEO, the entire matter of filling all existing vacancies was placed numerous times on the Agenda of Statutory Meetings of the Commission. However, this topic was always deferred due to the need for the Commission to focus its attention on more pressing matters associated with preparations for the conduct of Local Government Elections.
Accordingly, Giddings’s secondment will come to an end upon the appointment of a DCEO.